Five Men Plead Guilty to Distributing Large Quantities of Child Sexual Abuse Material on Peer-to-Peer Networks

LAS VEGAS - This week, five men pleaded guilty to distributing thousands of violent and sadistic child sexual abuse material (CSAM) across peer-to-peer networks.

"The relentless pursuit of child sex predators is one of the FBI's top priorities," said Special Agent in Charge Christopher S. Delzotto for the FBI Las Vegas Field Office. "Victimization and abuse of our most vulnerable, our community's innocent children, is unacceptable. Through initiatives such as Project Safe Childhood, we are committed to identifying, investigating, and bringing to justice anyone who violates federal laws designed to protect our children."

• On June 1, Andrew Padilla, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty to making available for download by other users of a peer-to-peer network more than 4,000 images and videos of child sexual abuse material. Padilla admitted that he possessed about 160 images and videos depicting sadistic or masochistic, including infants and toddlers and children under the age of 12. Padilla pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. The statutory maximum penalty is 20 years for distribution of child pornography and 20 years for possession of child pornography.
• On June 1, Jimmy Franklin Dearman, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty to making available for download by other users of a peer-to-peer network approximately 239 files of child sexual abuse material and distributing at least 39 of the files. Additionally, he admitted to possessing over 1,600 images and 242 videos of child sexual abuse material depicting sadistic or masochistic conduct of infants and toddlers, and children under the age of 12. Dearman pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. The statutory maximum penalty is 20 years for distribution of child pornography and 20 years for possession of child pornography.
• On June 5, James Donovan, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty to distributing child sexual abuse material at least 11 times with other users and channels of the social media application Discord. Donovan admitted that he also transported child sexual abuse material to an Amazon Cloud account using the internet. He also possessed about 70 printed images and over 50,000 digital images and videos of child sexual abuse material depicting sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence, infants and toddlers, and prepubescent minors under the age of 12. Donovan pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography, one count of transportation of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. The statutory maximum penalty is 20 years for distribution of child pornography, 20 years for the transportation of child pornography, and 20 years for possession of child pornography.
• On June 5, Randall William Rushton, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty to making available for download, on two separate occasions, over 600 total images and videos of child sexual abuse material for download by other users of a peer-to-peer network. He also admitted that he possessed over 11,000 images and videos depicting sadistic or masochistic, including infants and toddlers and children under the age of 12. Rushton pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. The statutory maximum penalty is 20 years for distribution of child pornography and 20 years for possession of child pornography.
• On June 5, Travis Ehlers, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty to making available for download by other users of a peer-to-peer network more than 500 images and videos of child sexual abuse material. Ehlers admitted that he possessed approximately 13,420 images and about 1,784 videos of child sexual abuse material depicting sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence, infants and toddlers, and prepubescent minors under the age of 12. Ehlers pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. The statutory maximum penalty is 20 years for distribution of child pornography and 20 years for possession of child pornography.

First Assistant United States Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Christopher S. Delzotto for the FBI Las Vegas Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Afroza Yeasmin is prosecuting these cases.

These cases are a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

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